Mother of four sheds 36 cm off waist by clean eating

Huyen, 33, stands 1.63 meters tall and currently works in business. She gave birth to her fourth child at the end of 2021, weighing 68 kg. Her health declined, and she often felt fatigued, suffered from insomnia, and felt self-conscious about her appearance.

Huyen after childbirth in 2021. Photo courtesy of Huyen

"Looking at my still innocent children and my aging parents, I realized I couldn't stay like that forever," Huyen said. "If I cannot even change my own body, then what can I change?"

Determined to lose weight, improve her appearance, and enhance her health, she hoped to create more opportunities for herself while inspiring and assisting other women in similar situations. However, due to a lack of knowledge, her weight fluctuated irregularly for over a year.

In July 2023, Huyen began pursuing a healthy eating approach combined with exercise. Over six months, she lost 18 kg, going from 68 kg to 50 kg, and reduced her waistline from 101 cm to 65 cm, achieving a slim and firm figure.

Here are the tips that helped her achieve her ideal shape:

Applying the eat clean method

Huyen started following an eat clean diet, a dietary approach promoting good health and weight loss by focusing on consuming natural foods. The general principles of this diet encourage eating whole foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, and healthy fats while limiting fast food, processed foods, sweets, and packaged foods.

Huyen believes this scientifically-based eating regimen doesn't cause her fatigue. This diet provides her with enough energy to care for her children and work.

She prioritizes raw and fresh foods, green vegetables, white lean meat, eggs, and fish while limiting her consumption of red meat. During the initial two to four months, when fat elimination is most active, she cut out fats, sugar, and snacks entirely. Afterward, she continued the eat clean diet, but not as strictly.

Huyen after successful weight loss. Photo courtesy of Huyen

Running, yoga, and resistance exercises

In addition to her diet, Huyen took up exercising to tone her body and improve her metabolism. She dedicates three sessions a week to yoga and three sessions to running, each lasting about 60 minutes. She also incorporates light resistance exercises, learning from YouTube videos.

Yoga is a method of physical and mental training that enhances flexibility, prevents back pain, and reduces the risk of heart disease. Women who practice yoga regularly can reap numerous benefits, including reducing overall body fat, preventing liver fat accumulation, improving blood circulation, and enhancing overall health.

Regular yoga practice also helps reduce stress and joint pain, stimulate liver function, balance hormones, and improve sleep quality.

According to Verywellfit, running is an effective way to burn calories quickly. Though the number of calories burned varies based on body size, speed, and running duration, statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that individuals that successfully lose and maintain weight often burn about 2,800 calories weekly through structured exercise. This is equivalent to an adult running around 45 kilometers per week.

Sebastien Lagree, a former trainer of A-list celebrities like the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle and American actress Jennifer Aniston, emphasizes the importance of resistance training for a long and healthy life. Resistance exercises, especially with light weights, are key to healthy aging, he said. This form of muscle strengthening involves the muscles resisting against a certain force or weight. Consistent and regular strength training helps muscles become stronger.

Huyen in 2024, after successfully losing weight. Photo courtesy of Huyen

Based on her experience, Huyen asserts that successful fat loss and muscle gain primarily rely on balanced nutrition, with exercise accounting for only 15% to 20% of the process.

"Eating right, enough, and clean is the only way to lose weight," Huyen said. "If you work out hard but still eat recklessly at home, achieving a beautiful figure is impossible."

She emphasized that exercising and eating healthily have become her lifestyle habits.

Thanks to her improved appearance, Huyen has become more confident at work, and her family life has seen positive changes. With her newfound confidence, harmony between her and her spouse has increased, leading to greater happiness and warmth in their family life.